Lt-Col Bengough

Subject: Lt-Col Bengough Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:23 pm

Lt-Col Bengough arrived in Natal with the 77th Foot in December 1878. He was placed in command of the 2nd Battalion Natal Native Contingent, which formed part of Durnford’s Column, and which was left to protect the frontier at Kranz Kop on the departure of that force to join Glyn’s Column. He crossed the Buffalo River in command of the battalion on 22 January 1879. On receipt of the news of the disaster at Isandlwana, he hastened towards Rorke's Drift, intending to join the General’s force. En route, he received orders to proceed to Helpmakaar near Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal. Bengough was ordered to Umsinga, where, despite the desertion of large numbers of his men, he constructed Fort Bengough. He joined the division of General Edward Newdigate in May, in command of the battalion of which the numbers had increased and the discipline improved. He and the battalion took part in the advance into Zululand. He commanded the headquarters and three companies which were present at the Battle of Ulundi. Bengough was Mentioned in Despatches by General Newdigate on 6 July 1879, who reported the good service rendered by the battalion in scouting and outpost duties during the action. Bengough then served in command of the battalion in Russell’s Column until the capture of the King Cetewayo, when it was disbanded.
Bengough visited the kraal near where the Prince Imperial was killed and recalled that he 'brought away as a memento of the sad event a knobkerry stick, which I found in the kraal, and which now hangs in the hall of my house.' In the wake of a famous battle, especially one that marked the culmination of a war such as Ulundi on 4 July 1879, every European involved in the battle appeared to want to own an object that could serve as a reminder of the event.

In common with a number of other officers after the Anglo-Zulu War, Major Bengough was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on 29 November 1879, he returned to regimental duty on 21 June 1880, and he received substantive promotion to that rank on 1 July 1881. He was on half-pay for a period commencing on 29 April 1882, when he was appointed Assistant Adjutant General at Madras. and was promoted colonel on the 29 November 1883. He took part in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, and was Mentioned in Despatches on 26 March 1886. He was given command of a Brigade in the Madras Army on 8 November 1886, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on 26 November 1886. He relinquished command of the brigade on 13 November 1891. He was appointed local major general, when he went to Jamaica on 25 October 1893. The rank was made permanent on 13 February 1894, and he relinquished the Jamaica command on 19 December 1894.
His last command was of the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Aldershot Division with the rank of major general, he relinquished command on 1 December 1897. He retired from the service on 29 November 1898;Bengough himself says that he did so "a little before the Boer War of 1899". He was promoted Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 26 June 1908. He died in West Bognor on 20 March 1922.

Source: wikipedia

Posts : 3385 Join date : 2009-03-03 Location : Devon

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Harcourt Mortimer Bengough

See Pictorial catalogue of AZW graves

Subject: Lt- Col . Bengough Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:22 am

Hi All .
Here is another photo of Bengough .

[url=http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1896-MAJ-GEN-BENGOUGH-COMMANDER-1ST-BRIGADE-ALDERSHOT-/140507749029?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item20b6ea1aa5]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1896-MAJ-GEN-BENGOUGH-COMMANDER-1ST-BRIGADE-ALDERSHOT-/140507749029?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item20b6ea1aa5[/url

cheers 90th.]

Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:49 pm

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Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:54 pm

Major General Bengough's medals were sold at Spink on the 19th April this year. The lot consisted of KCB insignia, Jubilee Medal 1877, SAGS 1879, IGS 1854-95 Clasp Burma 1885-7. At the same sale there were the QSA medal to Captain DHV Bengough (one of two sons who saw active service) and the Great War medals to Miss IV Bengough.
It is still possible to find reprints of his autobiography - Memoirs of a Soldiers Life. But be warned he does spend a lot of time in it writing about hunting!!

In addition he was a talented linguist and prolific writer on Military subjects . Amongst his published works is "A Military Phrase Book" -which translated commands from English to Zulu and was used to help communicate with the NNC. I am still trying to track a copy down.

Newdigate mentioned him in dispatches following Ulundi- "the 2nd Battalion of the NNC acted in reserve during this action. This battalion has been well commanded by Major Bengough , who is a very good and active officer. His battalion has done very good service in outpost and scouting duties during the whole time they have been in the field." Supplement to the London Gazette August 21 1879.

Newdigate clearly was impressed by Bengough and in a letter to him dated 22/11/79 he stated "I consider that you and your Battalion took such an important part in the Zulu Campaign...

Subject: Lt - Col Bengough Tue Sep 04, 2012 3:28 pm

Hi SergioD.
Informative post , thanks .
Cheers 90th. Salute

.

Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:06 pm

LITERATURE.

MEMORIES OF A SOLDIER'S LITE.

London : Edward Arnold, 1913.

By SIR H. M. BENGOUGH, K.C.B.,

There can be but few British officers now living who have served with their re- <*> giments in Australia, and General Sir Harcourt Bengough's book, recently pub-

lished under the above title, is of special interest to Australians from its author having been in Sydney with the old 77th Regiment fifty-seven years ago. But it is not to that fact alone that Sir Harcourt's "Memories" owe their intere3t. They tell of war and sport in many lands—the Crimea. India, South Africa, Burma, Jamaica, and lastly England ; for the author has spent most of his long mili tary life on foreign stations. When he re tired as a Major-General in 1899 he had Berved for 44 years, only nine of which were passed in England. His period of service covers nearly the whole of the latter half of the nineteenth century ; an era, it is true, of little wars, but of great importance in the development and eus??Eiion of their Empire. VPHarcourt Mortimer Bengough is the second son of George Bengough, of the Ridge, Tursley, Gloucestershire, by his marriage with Ann, daughter of Captain J. C. Carpenter, 11.N.K.H. Captain Car penter's wife was Ann Stewart, sister of Captain Thomas Stewart, formerly senior inspector of distilleries in New South Wales, and of Lieutenant James Stewart, R.N. Captain Carpenter was a distinguished naval officer of the great wars with France. He entered the Navy in 1781, during the war of- the American Rebel lion ; took part as a master's mate, in the Defence, 74, in Lord Howe's victory on June 1, 1794, and was made a commander for bis services at the Basque-road in April, 1809. He commanded the Racoon, 18 guns, at St. Helena during the cap tivity of Napoleon Bonaparte, his broth •r-in-law, James Stewart, being his second lieutenant. James Stewart had passed five stirring years from 1809 to 1814 in the Mediterranean in the Min orca under Captain Phipps Hornby and other fine sailors. No doubt some of the spirit of his grandfathers and grand uncle descended to the future general. Born on 25th November, 1837, his school days were spent at Rugby, and it was as a Rugby schoolboy that in the early days of the Crimean War he was gazetted as an en sign in the 77th, commonly known as the "Pothooks," tlren at the seat of war. He arrived in the Crimea shortly after thjfrfJisastrous attack on the Redan in Jt^p 1855. Sebastopol fell . three months later, and when peace came he returned to England with his regiment. The ship which took them home was the Queen, a three-decker of 120 guns, the flagship on the Mediterranean ; a famous ■hip in those days, soon to be rendered •bsolete by the ironclads. The 77th were in Ireland for a few months, and then came orders to go to New South Wales. On 18th June, 1857, the regi ment, under the command of Colonel J. X: Stratton, embarked in two sailing snips, the Orwell and the Palmerston, •6th of Green's line, and after a voyag*

of three months the two ships entered Sydney Heads almost simultaneously. The voyage out had not been without a very painful incident which the 'general described with much feeling. Sir Harcourt speaks of the very warm welcome given to the regiment by their Colouial kindfolk, but, he adds, depre catingly, "partly due to something of the heroic halo that clings round a regi ment recently engaged on active ser vice." He found that "the people were most kindlyi disposed to us." In respect of sport he says : "We played cricket with the Sydney eleven, then rather an embryo team, who, once I remember, took off their shoes to field, and hardly gave promise of developing into the Aub trallan Eleven that of later years has Played and defeated an All-England Eleven." Are there any old cricketers left who renwmber this match ? Other things besides cricket engaged t':e attention of the 77th, and two of the officers soon fell victims to thr bright eyes that shone upon them. Sir Har court does not record their nair.?s, but El *5&? ey people may BtiU remember that Phihp Dauncey, of the 77th, married a daughter of Sir Thomas Mitchell, for merly Surveyor-General, who had died a year or two before, and may know the names of the other happy pair. Philip Dauncey's son, Thursby Dauncey, com manded the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons in the Boer Wur. C a7 h«hni ay Kof h6 77th in sy dney was cut short by orders to proceed to India to assist In the suppression of the ter rible mutiny which broke out in May, I&V7- The route taken was through Torres Straits, and the regiment did not ?"J ye .in Calcutta till June, 1858, by which time the mutiny Sft . qUl lled A and all that was thl -i v c was to Btam P out the ajiing embers and inflict punishment K n 'h? euilt7- Of this work General Bengough says nothing; Philip Dauncey usec to tell many stories concerning it. For the next twelve years the 77th were in India experiencing all the inci dents ofi Indian military life in time of peace. Sport, cholera, rifle shooting manoeuvres, love, and death are all part of the "long Indian day." At last the route came, and in February, i 370 the regiment embarked for England, being the first regiment that passed through the Suez Canal in a troopship. In pass ing through the canal the ship took the ground, but was got off by the follow ing device :-The whole regiment waa «?nTle^K P J wi uhout anns on tne opposite lir ? ♦?**!? to the Pl*ce in the Canal where the ship had struck, and was instructed to jump when the word ! was given. This was success- Once more back in England, Captain 5f n «?"«h' as he th«? was, turned his thoughts to the staff college. At his first attempt to enter he wa? beaten by Cap tan t afterwards General) Gatacre, a fm# soldier whose career ended so disastrous ly at Stormberg in 1899. His second at tempt was successful. . . . But more active duties lay before him. The troubles in South Africa were assum ing serious proportions, and among those sent out on special service was Major Bengough. Shortly after his arrival at South Africa he was placed in command of the second battalion of the Natal Native' Contingent. His account of his experiences with his battalion is amusing. At one time, doubtful of their loyalty, he dismisEud them to their kraals, and was reprimanded by the Commander-ln-Chief, Lord Chelmsford. An scouts, however, they were very useful, and this seems to have been the f.ise to which they were put with most success. Sir Harcourt has his own opinion on the vexed question of the responsibility for the Prince Imperial's death. It will be remembered that the heir of the great Napoleon died a soldier's death in the service of the British Crown on June 1, 1879, and that it was uever very satis factorily determined who was responsible for allowing the small party, of which the Prince formed one, to halt and dismount without reconnoitring the ground. The blame has very generally been attached to Lieutenant Carey, 98th Regiment. General Bengough states that he met Leiutenant Carey on May 30, eutirely un attended, engaged in reconnoitring and sketching the country round abc k ut the camp. "That Lieutenant Carey was want ing in personal courage," says General Bengougb, "I cannot believe. The brief interview which 1 had with him on the previous afternoon would rather leave the impression of a spirit of enterprise, and even of rashness, than of caution, and much less of cowardice. Any attempt to saddle him with the unfortunate death of the young French Prince would be unfair and futile. The little party was entirely under the command of the young Prince, and though, from the military standpoint', scouts should have secured the safety of the kraal, yet the ordering of such a safeguard lay necessarily in the hands of the commander." But was the Prince Im perial in charge ? It was so stated at the subsequent court-martial ; but Sir Evelyn Wood states ("From Midshipman to Field-Marshal," by Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood, chapter 32) that he has had a Btrange and convincing piece of evi dence before him for many years, in the Prince"B own handwriting, that he was serving under the British officer, and was, therefore, in no way responsible for the disaster. This evidence consists of the sheet of a writing pad, on which the Prince had taken full notes of the day's work. On the pad are the words, "Party tinder Captain Carey." The notes were tern off the pad, and put into the ticket pocket of the waterproof worn by the Prince on the fatal day. The waterproof was sent home, sponged, and straightened

out. A lump in the ticket pocket was noticed, and this was found to be the 6bcet of the writing pad. Bengough's centingents formed portion of the force which visited the field of Isandhlwana, being the first to visit the camp after that disaster. "The dead lay as they had fallen, a thousand corpses unto;uched or disfigured except for the wind and rain. A group here and there of men lying together where a last desper ate stand had been made. It was a picture cf the massacre of brave men painted in the colours of blood. The clothes had lasted better than the poor bodies they covered. We gathered some sad relics of thesa who rested there, let ters from home, photographs, and blood stained booV"s." Major Bengough and his contingent were at Ulundl when the Zulu power was broken. His horse was shot, and there were ;cer. 1 casualties among his men. It Wiin t Ulundi that he first met Sir Garnrt V.'olxeley, whom he describes as "& {Treat roKlicr, an able General, a dis tinguished man of letters, a perfect gen tleman, and a good friend." Major Bengough has twice ventured in despatches, and received the medal with clasrs and the brevet of Lieutenant- Colcnel fcr his services in South Africa. In connection with the Zulu war Sir Harcourt relates two instances of those peculiar dreams or visions of things hap pening at a distance which may be mere coincidences, or, perhaps, something more than that. Mrs. Eengough was living in Dublin while her husband was in South Africa. On the day after the disaster at Isandhlwana she said to the friend with whom she was staying, "I saw in a dream last night a field with soldiers in red coats lying about wounded and dying." The second instance is much more circumstantial. When Major Bengough was going home he had to get off the steamer with his light baggage and wait for another, because his servant tad not turned up with his heavy baggage. Mrs. Bengough said to her friend, "I Baw Harcourt go on board a steamer yester day and then leave it. What can this mean ?" Explanation followed when Major Bengough returned. "In 1880 he went to India with his regiment, and there he remained for 12 years. Henceforth staff duties occupied his energies. After serving as Russian interpreter at Simla he became Assistant Adjutant-General at Bangalore. On the outbreak of the Burmese War in 1885 he became chief staff officer to Major- General Prendergast, V.C., the Comman der-in-Chief, one of his colleagues being Major W. Reun Symonds, whose heroic death at Talana Hill at the opening of the Boer War will not be forgotten. For his services in the Burmese War Col. Bengough was made a C.B. In November, 1880, Sir Harcourt at tained the fulfilment of his ambition as a soldier —an independence command—and as a Brigadier-General, the command of the Nagpore district. This was fol lowed by commands at Secunderabad and Bangalore. At thi? latter place Sir Har- Court says that he was fortunate in se .curing as his Assistant Adjutant-General Captain Henry Finn, who had been Ad jutant of the 21st HuLoars, and was "as good a roan in the office as he was la the field, and a good horseman withal." Captain (now General) Finn afterwards Came to Australia as Commandant in Queensland, and since his appointment as secretary to the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust has made his home in Sjdney. General Bengough finally left India in 1892, and the following year went to Jamaica as commander of the troops there. He was Acting-Governor there dur ing the absence of Sir Henry Blake. He records a fact that should be borne in mind when suggestions are made for dealing with rabbits, prickly pear, or any of the other pests to which Australia is subject. The rats on the island of Jamaica, he tells us, became a perfect plague on the sugar plantations, and the experiment was tried of importing a num ber of mongoose from India. This was done, and the rats were demolished., but the mongoose having destroyed the rats proceeded to take the birds too, or to diminish them to such an extent that insects became on still are in many parts of the country a veritable pest. On his return from Jamaica Sir Har court assumed the command of the Second Infantry Brigade at Aldershot, and his re tirement from the service under the age clause took place a little before the Boer War of 1899. During the war he waa a weekly contributor to the Ar row" on the military situation, and he did not write under a pen name. He had previously been known as a writer on military subjects. His book shows that his pen can be used with a lighter touch* He tells a story well. Some of his chooting storie? are excellent. Sir Harcourt writes his "Foreword" from Chalford, in Gloucestershire, his native county, and in a few concluding pages relates how the evening of his days is spent there. He attributes his good health mainly to two sources—the con venient distance of something under a mile to the parish church with its regular services, and the pressing early invitator of a favourite dog to take him out for a walk. Gardening and reading are the old soldier's recreations, the latter covers a wide field from his knowledge of modern languages, though he modestly calls him self "a master of no tongue but a lover of all." Sir Harcourt became a K.C.B. in 1908. He can say with his favourite poet, though in a nobler sense "Milltavi, non sine gloria," and his interesting and sim ply told record of duty done should find many readers. The old 77th, now the 2nd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, has an additional interest to Australians from the fact that the present officer commanding the Regi ment, Colonel R. H. Hayes, is a son of the late Mr. Horace Hayes, formerly ol Bendigo and Melbourne*

Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Wed Sep 05, 2012 9:51 am

Thanks Littlehand - really interesting post. Bengough has been a pending research project of mine for a while - these last few posts have given me the kick i needed to get going. Any other information or source material anyone can point me to would be greatfully received. I would be particularly interested in tracking down any of the following of Bengough's publications
1878-Military phrase book - in Zulu
1883-Military Catechism for Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers
1883 -Mounted Infantry
1886-Cavalry Distance Rides
1892-A general and his duties
1896-Thoughts on Modern Tactics
1900-Notes and reflections on the Boer War

Sergio

Posts : 2871 Join date : 2010-06-02

Just came across a nice picture of Bengough when he was Commander of 1st Brigade Aldershot.

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Steve

Subject: Lt -Col Bengough Tue Oct 04, 2016 11:32 pm

Good one Steve , excellent .
90th Very Happy

Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:33 am

awesome thanks Steve

Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:23 am

Steve where's the photo from ?

Posts : 2871 Join date : 2010-06-02

Navy and Army Illustrated 1896.

Steve

Posts : 272 Join date : 2010-08-13

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Subject: Lt -Col Bengough Sun Oct 16, 2016 2:11 am

Excellent !
90th Salute

Posts : 3463 Join date : 2021-01-04

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Natal Witness 7th January 1879

Does anyone on the forum have a copy of this?

Subject: Lt Col Bengough Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:33 pm

Kate Sigh ....no , can't actually recall ever seeing it ? .

90th

Posts : 3463 Join date : 2021-01-04

I wonder how useful it was when you read this
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Natal Witness 11th January 1879

Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:57 pm

for info. Pronounced Ben-gock.

Subject: Re: Lt-Col Bengough Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:00 pm

Given the hint of sarcasm expressed by the correspondent of the Natal Witness, it should be noted that Bengough acknowledged Mr. W. R. Gordon, the Interpreter of the Supreme Court, in the preparation of the publication.

JY

Subject: Lt - Col Bengough Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:43 pm

All
Obviously a quick learner is our Lt - Col . In Bengough's book ' Memories Of A Soldiers Life ' he indeed covers this and also put in the Newspaper article !! , it's on pages 103-106 in the First Edition , I was looking for my Paperback edition for it's page numbers but I may've sold it since getting the 1st Edit

90th

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